Streams of Silver
by Sirine
Summary: Sukasa has holed himself up in his Cathedral for three years with nothing to pass the time by but his own screams...surprise twist at the end! Finished!
1. The Meeting

Disclaimer- hey, hey, hey, guess what? ...none of the characters are mine! the plot kinda is tho...  
Sukasa- eh, it is not a good plot though.  
Sirine- quiet you. :thwap:  
Sukasa- ...ow.  
  
By the by, this takes place BEFORE Sukasa-chan smile gets to log out, and he ends up sinking into a depression and has locked himself up in his little castle in the world for three years, and I have only seen the video series so don't be full of madness if I get some things wrong.

Italic-Sukasa thinking  
  
PROLOGUE- THE MEETING  
  
_A quiet humming of a sad tune is all I have heard. A lonely place of darkness and dust is all that I have seen. A constant agony for everything I have lost is all that I have felt.  
For so long...  
...have they all forgotten me?  
...so long...  
_  
Shuffle. Shuffle. Lines of age-old dust that had laid undisturbed for many years rose in silent protest as a pair of unfamiliar feet tread quietly on the outside stones. Subaru's eyes filled with a kind of restrained hope when she realized that none had yet encroached upon this sad place. She took a moment to steel herself for whatever could happen next and moved to place her pale hands upon the heavy doors to Sukasa's home...  
...or tried to.  
The ornate metal doors both creaked open on their hinges with squeals of protest even before she had touched them. Subaru gasped and took a step back and stumbled as her foot caught on one of the uneven stones.  
"...Su...Sukasa...?" she whispered, the name that she had been afraid to speak aloud pulling a thread of fear from her as she spoke. She cleared her throat and shook her head. One foot in front of the other, she slowly breached the nonexistent wall of legend that Sukasa's presence had created around the Cathedral.  
  
_ ...so long....  
_  
Sukasa raised his head ever so slightly. Normally, no one who had even been staring at him would have noted the miniscule movement, but the layer of dust that shifted away from his shoulders made it obvious enough to make the young man grimace.  
He did not really want to be noticed, but the girl standing at the far end of his hall did notice- her pace quickened considerably.  
"Sukasa!"  
He winced unconciously at the sound of his name but offered no reply, did not even blink to agknowledge that he had heard the sound of heart- wrenching happiness that was easy to detect in Subaru's voice.  
Sukasa easily took in the reactions that he felt at seeing this girl after so long raised in him from a distance- yes, he felt a kind of relief, and yes, he felt a kind of joy, but these emotions were so long gone from him that he did not recognize them.  
But the pain...  
  
_ ...too long...!  
_  
Anger.


	2. The Green Gem

Disclaimer- hey, hey, hey, guess what? ...None of the characters are mine! The plot kind of is though... Thanks to Ever Snow for the spelling of Tsukasa's name! ::smilesmile:: Tsukasa-with much suffering on my part... scuffs shoes  
  
Sirine-muhahah!!  
  
Subaru-... you are a wicked, wicked thing.  
  
Sirine-thwaps Subaru PWEEZE REVIEW! PWEEZE!! I will love you forever! ...Friendly-wise I mean....  
  
CHAPER ONE- THE GREEN GEM  
  
"You say that Tsukasa attacked you, Lady Subaru?"  
  
"I said no such thing, Ginkhan," Subaru retorted angrily as she turned away from her still-loyal guardian.  
  
"But the witnesses said-"  
  
Subaru spun on her heel and glared up at Ginkhan with such a commanding stare that the Knight backpedaled a few steps. "By my word, I was the one whose health is in question, and I say that I am fine! I was not attacked!!" She turned away again and her face returned to its normal calm. "I apologize, Ginkhan- I have been under more stress then I am used to..."  
  
The Knight, always ready to accept an undertaking to help Subaru, immediately fisted a hand. "Let me help you, Lady Subaru!"  
  
Subaru ignored him. As usual. And as usual he continued appealing to her for the rest of her visit to the world.  
  
But her mind was elsewhere...  
  
"...why...are you here...." A pause, an uncomfortable swallow. "...Subaru...?"  
  
"Tsukasa...! You look... older! ...Did you upload a new character skin?"  
  
Silence. "...No."  
  
She moves to sit beside him, dusting off the cold, hard surface of the altar he sits on. "Then why...then how did you-"  
  
A low rumbling sound from everywhere that reminds Subaru of an earthquake begins as Tsukasa's hands slowly clench into fists. "...Leave."  
  
She stops and her eyes widen. "What is it?"  
  
"Just leave."  
  
"Tsukasa-?" She places a gentle hand over his own like she has done so many times before in concern. "Did I do something wrong? What is bothering you?" Tears pool in the corners of her eyes. "You are hurting...please, tell me-"  
  
He bursts into animation, moving away from her with such speed that he leaves no time for her to blink. His gentle features are twisted into a look of hatred, of rage... aimed at her.  
  
"LEAVE ME ALONE!!"  
  
And then the sky fell in.  
  
Subaru let out a cry without knowing it and in an instant Ginkhan's hand was on her shoulder. She waved him away. "I am fine. I just need to go logout now..."  
  
Ginkhan watched her leave, his frown obvious. "...Sometimes, I think you hide things from me, Lady Subaru..." he whispered to himself. "...I shall go and learn myself what happened at the Church of Twilight, if you find it so important that you have to lie about it..."  
  
He turned and headed away towards the server exit.  
  
"Hyup--!"  
  
Ginkhan slung his blade out of its sheath at the familiar cry and showed no surprise as a dark, lithe figure dropped out of a window to land in a crouch in front of him.  
  
Sora straightened in an instant and then bent over double at the waist in a mocking bow. "I saw it aaaaaall," he sang teasingly, winking at the Knight.  
  
Ginkhan growled. "Have you nothing better to do?"  
  
"Ah, I'm offended!"  
  
"Hmmm."  
  
Sora smiled and said, "She is going back to him again, you know this, and you think that she is in danger, hmm??"  
  
Ginkhan glowered and sheathed his sword. "Perhaps." He crossed his arms.  
  
The thief smirked, convinced that he had the Knight's full attention. "My Mistress does not want that to happen, neither do you, neither do I. She gives you this." Sora procured a small emerald the size of a quarter and slipped it under Ginkhan's collar. "Keep it close."  
  
"I do not want your help! I work alone!"  
  
"Then you die alone, you fool." Sora inspected his nails calmly. "Keep it close, or not, whichever you like. I have done my job." With that, he disappeared.  
  
Ginkhan finally plucked the emerald from his person and glared at nothing, weighing pride against practicality.  
  
Soon he was back on his way towards the server exit... with the emerald in his pocket. 


	3. Broken

Disclaimer- hey, hey, hey, guess what? ...none of the characters are mine! the plot kinda is tho... sorry about the slow update- the chaper was all done on Saturday, but I needed to wait for something to arrive in the mail so I could transfer it from my laptop. Sorry again!!  
Tsukasa- eh...I don't think that I would do this in reality...  
Sirine- Oh, hush. It's my story, and I like it! So there!  
Subaru- ... ... ...  
  
Italic- Tsukasa whispering  
  
CHAPTER THREE-BROKEN  
  
Subaru crept slowly into the ruined front hall of the Church of Twilight, carefully picking her way around the fallen rubble and debris from the ceiling, looking for Tsukasa. Her mind began to panic when she saw that he was not sitting on the stone altar where he was last time. She made her way up to it and brushed a finger gingerly across its cold surface, drawing the character for 'lost' in the heavy dust.  
She sighed. "...Tsukasa, where did you go?" she asked the empty air sadly.  
A sudden breeze from somewhere tore through the sanctuary then and tossed the dust into the wind, erasing what she had written. Looking up, her eyes reached the stained glass window that was on the wall behind the altar. It had always been very beautiful... Subaru gasped when she saw what had been done.  
The window was broken, its swirling and continuous pattern now interrupted by great expanses of empty space where the glass was gone and where there were many cracks through its frame. Only then did Subaru notice the shards on the floor behind the altar. She moved around it to take a closer look.  
"Oh, Tsukasa!!"  
He lay on the ground behind the altar, his body curled in a fetal position, shivering from the cold and muttering to himself.  
I am here...  
Subaru ran to him and fell to her knees to help him. She gently lifted him so he was sitting up, leaning against the altar's base.  
"Oh, Tsukasa, what happened??"  
Alone again...  
His eyes were glassy, staring at nothingness, and one of his hands repeatedly drew a delicate line down his forearm with a shard of the broken window. Not hard enough to break skin, mind you, but enough to make Subaru worry. She put her hand on his wrist and moved to take the glass from him. What had happened to do this to him??  
In this sweet...  
Tsukasa's grip on the glass shard tightened and a long line of blood grew around it. Subaru gasped.  
He blinked and stared at her, recognition on his face, then reached out with his good hand and gripped her shoulder. "Why?" he asked simply, his voice hoarse.  
She shook her head, not understanding. "I...I...why what....?"  
Tsukasa dropped the glass and raised his hand up to his face, staring at it in a kind of twisted intensity. "...why do only I hurt??"  
Subaru's eyes filled with tears and she pulled Tsukasa into a hug, whispering, "You are not the only one, Tsukasa!" She pulled away and looked into his face for some sign that he had heard her, but there was none. His eyes stared at nothing again. "...we all hurt because of this..." she gave up. He could not hear her speaking. Where had her Tsukasa gone to?  
...Insanity...?  
She slumped over, dispair washing over her in waves. He was dead and buried, she decided. Gone to somewhere where he was free from all this pain that he was going through. "Please, Tsukasa," she begged, looking up into his face. "Don't go where I cannot follow you anymore..." She kept watching him for some sign of life as twin streams of silver tears ran down her fair face.  
Three hours later, Ginkhan walked in to find her still there, watching the emancated Tsukasa with a look of hope on her face.  
  
So, how is it? I was thinking of ending it here, but should I keep it up? 


	4. The Criminal

Disclaimer- hey, hey, hey, guess what? ...none of the characters are mine! the plot kinda is tho...  
  
CHAPTER FOUR- THE CRIMINAL  
  
"Mimiru! Mimiru! We're over here, Mimiru!"  
The dark-skinned girl turned her head at the sound of the familiar voice calling her. Subaru, Sukasa, and Ginkhan all sat in a semicircle, Subaru waving her head and nodding in her direction. Ginkhan fiddled with the emrald in his pocket uncomfortably.  
"Ah! Sukasa, it's been a long time!" Mimiru squealed happily, clapping her hands once in a greeting. She moved to stand beside him and frowned. "Aree you ignoring me?"  
Ginkhan shook his head in an almost regretful movement while Subaru winced and looked over at the still-muttering Wave Master. "Lady Subaru has discovered that Sukasa seems to have-"  
"Do not say that, Ginkhan!" Subaru said quietly, interrupting the Knight. "To do so makes it almost seem true." She turned to Mimiru who was staring at Sukasa in confusion. "He has merely lost himself. He will soon return." With this statement, she nodded to herself as if she was trying to convince herself of the truth of her own words.  
Mimiru's frown deepened. "Subaru, something is wrong with him. I think-" but she never got to voice what she thought- Ginkhan's forbidding stare silenced her. There was something very, very wrong about this entire picture.  
Suddenly Sukasa's mutterings stopped and he seemed to come back to himself, his eyes darting alertly between the faces looking at him. He raised an eyebrow.  
"...what are you all looking at?"  
Subaru threw her arms around his neck in a relieved embrace while Mimiru and Ginkhan both stared. Sukasa, thoroughly confused at this point, pushed her away warily. He was not in his familiar sanctuary and he had no memory of leaving. His eyes narrowed and he stared at each of them angrily. "You took me from my own home?"  
Mimiru shrugged helplessly and Subaru averted her gaze, embarassed. Ginkhan spoke for them. "Lady Subaru wanted it, though it was against my... reccomendations." He paused and thought again of the scene that he had found the two of them in. "...the Cathedral of Twilight is in no shape to work as a place to live, even for you."  
Sukasa was on his feet in an instant, along with Ginkhan. "What did you do?!" he demanded of the Knight. "What right do you have to-"  
His anger was cut short when Ginkhan pointedly slapped him across the face. The force of the blow sent his slight form stumbling backwards into the wall. Ginkhan winced then when he remembered what Subaru had taught him. Sukasa was not like other players in the world. He felt pain. Ginkhan wondered truely how strong he was when a trickle of blood slid down the side of Sukasa's pale face.  
Sukasa stood leaning against the wall with a stunned look on his face for a minute or two. Then his chin lowered and he looked at the floor. "...I...I see," he said quietly. "A criminal again!" He looked back up at Ginkhan with hurt plain on his features. "I had thought that we had finished with that," he said simply. "I suppose I was wrong." And with that, he dissapeared. 


	5. Not Insane

Disclaimer- nope. the charries are not mine. tsk.  
  
CHAPTER FIVE- NOT INSANE  
  
Ash. Rubble. Broken glass.  
  
What had happened to his sanctuary?  
  
Sukasa picked his way slowly through the fallen stones from the ceiling, marvelling at how different the place seemed, now that other people had come after being his place and his place alone for so long.  
"...I suppose being near godlike isn't for saying much in here..." he mumbled quietly to himself, and truer words were never spoken. Over the past three years, Sukasa had been able to fine tune what he could and could not do with naught but thought. The time in solitude had given him immense new understanding of the data streams of the World and how he could bend the fabric of this reality with litte effort. But the loneliness had taken quite a toll as well.  
Creeeeeak.  
Slam.  
"Sukasa! I know you are here!!"  
Sukasa gritted his teeth at the sound of Ginkhan's voice echoing through the Cathedral. A surge of anger tore through him, but he muffled it. Footsteps came up short behind him and stopped. "You attacked Lady Subaru!"  
Sukasa stared at a stray pebble in the rubble and ignored him.  
"You destroyed your own home!"  
He closed his eyes and tried vainly to quell the anger rising within him from these insults.  
"Then you try to destroy yourself!"  
He clenched his fists and snarled, "Go to hell!"  
"You are losing your mind!"  
"I AM NOT INSANE!!"  
Sukasa spun around and swung viciously at where Ginkhan had been a moment before, but his searching fist found only air, and a ripple of space curved outward in an arc to slam unhindered through the far wall. Overbalanced, he stumbled and fell to his hands and knees. After a moment, a long, feral howl of years of frustration tore from him and made the ruined windowpane rattle with its intensity. Sukasa clawed at the stone floor in a rage, tearing the still-tender skin of his hands and pulling a fingernail nigh off.  
Rage against the internet. Rage against the unfairness of the World. Rage against whatever gave him godlike powers to change the World but never simply leave.  
  
Why? What have I done that merits this...this punishment?!  
  
Tears of silver ran freely down his face to land on the stonework of the floor. He stopped as the fury dissapeared in the more and more common unnaturally abrupt mood swings that had plagued him for a year. What was that on the floor? And emerald?  
Sukasa gingerly held the gem between his thumb and forefinger and inspected it. He pulled his hat from his head and peered at the sides. Yes, one of the gems had fallen off. He refastened it with a flick of his wrist and sighed, then pulled the cap back over his head.  
The new emerald began to glow in bursts, like a heartbeat.  
  
Outside the Church of Twilight, Ginkhan stood immobile, playing nervously with a stray string on his uniform, horrified with what he had done. And far away, Sora looked up and smiled.  
"Aaaah, you are wearing it! Mm-hmmm!"  
  
So what do you guys think? My muse was on a streak, but she got exhausted already... give me ideas on what could happen next, ne?! 


	6. The Virus

Disclaimer: THEY AREN'T MINE! LEAVE ME BE, ALRIGHT?!?  
Tsukasa-... sweatdrops ... ... ...  
  
CHAPTER SIX-THE VIRUS  
  
"Any word from either of them?" Subaru asked as she wrung her hands in agitation. Krim shook his head.  
"None. What's this about?"  
Subaru shook her head and looked to Mimiru and Ginkhan who were standing off to the side. Mimiru's face was full of concern, not for Tsukasa, but for her; Subaru had not logged out for two days now. Ginkhan offered a suggestion.  
"Those of the Scarlet Knights still listen to your words, Lady Subaru," he began carefully. The stress had been taking its toll on Subaru and she had become more and more short-tempered as time went by. "...give us leave to scour the servers to find him!"  
Subaru's eyes widened for an instant. "You will do no such thing, Ginkhan!" she admonished sternly. "The Knights are no more, and nothing will make me take action to bring them back together!"  
Krim hid his smirk well, but Ginkhan still saw the mocking gleam in his eyes. The Knight tensed in anger.  
Suddenly Mimiru twitched and held up a hand. "Wait a minute!! He just sent me a message!" Subaru tensed as well.  
"...and to me."  
Mimiru scrunched up her eyes and was silent for a moment as she reveiwed it in her head. "Naaaani?? What is THAT supposed to mean?!?!"  
"What does it say?" Ginkhan urged impatiently.  
"It says, 'I'm leaving, don't come after me,'" Mimiru recited, then frowned. "Ooh, why does he have to act so weird??"  
Subaru was silent...her message had said something else.  
  
Tsukasa ran.  
He ran from something he knew he could not outrun, yet he still tried.Whispers from some otherworldly being taunted him, berated him, from everywhere.  
You are blind to the message that I bring to you, message of the true reality! Trapped, you are, with only fading memories of the place you left behind! You say that you want to leave, but is it really true?  
He shook his head to clear it in an attempt to shake the thoughts that were not his own from him. Of course it was true! He had only wanted to leave ever since the day he learned that he was caught in the World.  
Listen to my words, for they WILL haunt you until your stubborn pride vanishes and you come to terms with yourself! You can do so much, but your own fears keep you from becoming what you truly are!  
Tsukasa's hands raked the sides of his face in vain attempts to silence this unnatural voice that seemed to originate from his own head. Why? Why did he feel this pain? Why did he actually age within the World??  
Why couldn't he go home?!  
Half gasping, half sobbing, he stumbled onwards across the snowy dale, vowing to outrun this otherworldly being or die trying.  
The false gem quieted; its work was well underway. Tsukasa now had seeds of self-doubt buried deep in his subconcious because of its words. The virus would bend him to the Mistress's will in short time.  
Nothing to do now but wait. 


	7. Reward

Disclaimer- none of the characters are mine, save for Raven. Pweese don't take him....  
  
CHAPTER SEVEN- RAVEN  
  
Sora stared up into Aura's face, frozen in time and trapped within Morgana's viruses that kept her from doing anything.  
"Oi, Old Woman!!" he called out into the nothingness that made up this server. Misty waters, semi-swamped isles, and a kind of perpetual dusk. The only significant landmark that changed the scenery was the data- ritch norton crystal that served as the prison of Aura."Come out and talk to me, ne?!"  
A rustle of wings compelled the thief to look to the side. A small brush had sprung spontaneously out of the misty water and upon it sat a rather elegant-looking raven with lavender eyes who tilted its head to the side curiously and squaked at Sora. He raised an eyebrow and stared right back, and the bird seemed to dissipate into the air. Then a hand fell on his shoulder.  
Sora startled, lunging forwards and spinning about with a cry and his arm-blades out and ready. How had anyone gotten into this place, let alone sneak up on him? "Who are you??"  
The stranger stared at him blankly with the same purple eyes as the raven and blinked.  
  
This is my reward to you, Sora, for your hard work.  
  
Sora looked up. "Eh, I was hoping something more along the lines of money? Or some extra experience??" He snapped. "No such luck, mmm?" Sighing and knowing better to argue with his employer, he let his blades retract safely back into their holsters and looked curiously at this... 'reward'.  
  
Now... I have another task for you, Sora. You know of the famous Subaru, don't you?  
  
Sora smiled. "Oh, indeed I do, Old Woman."  
  
A heavily cloaked figure moved through the streets of the City, following the side of the river. The obvious attempt to be inconspicuous made him stand out like a spoon in a fork drawer and drew more then a few curious stares.  
Subaru watched the strange man make his way towards her boat and thought she caught a glimse of familiar white hair and pale skin. Her breath caught in her throat. She walked over to meet him on the shore with Ginkhan stepping close behind her.  
"Tsukasa?" she whispered, bending to peek under the low hood. He nodded, but turned away.  
"I want you to remember me the way I was," he whispered in apology when she turned a hurt gaze on him. Subaru nodded even though she did not completely understand what he meant.  
"What are you doing here? You are a wanted man again!"  
"I know, but I need to speak to you." He paused and his head jerked to the side in Ginkhan's direction. "I neet to speak to you in private."  
The Knight growled in protest but did not argue. Ginkhan could do nothing but watch as the two walked away. Then he frowned, wondering if Tsukasa was injured; his usual proud way of walking had become different, forced.  
...had that really been Tsukasa?? Ginkhan did not have the chance to get a good look at him before he left with Lady Subaru and the two were already out of sight.  
He swore aloud and began to send messages to the rest of the disbanded Knights. 


	8. Assassin

Disclaimer- None of the characters are mine, except Raven. Pweeeeze don't take him...  
  
CHAPTER EIGHT- ASSASSIN  
  
"Tsukasa, where are we going?" Subaru asked. They had been through at least three servers now and were still walking, this time through a snow- filled dale. "The Cathedral was the other way..."  
"I need to make sure that no one will be around," he whispered back. Subaru's feeling of wrongness increased by the minute.  
"Tsukasa, stop," she began, reaching out to catch his shoulder. "No one is here! We can talk now."  
He stopped and sighed, something that Subaru had never heard him do before. "It is about you, isn't it?"  
Subaru was confused. "What did you want to tell me, Tsukasa?" She took a step back and away from him as he turned around and stared at here out from under his hood.  
"I am truly sorry for this," he began as he reached up to pulll his hood back. He wore black gloves on his hands.  
Subaru frowned. Tsukasa had never worn black gloves. She looked into his face and frowned. "What has happened?"  
He shook his head. "It is best if you do not ask questions, Lady Subaru." Before her eyes, his features melted and shifted into a darkskinned and sharp face and dark hair.  
She cried out and backed away, lifting her handaxe in defense. "You aren't him!" She cried. The stranger nodded and shed his cloak, revealing the dark, lithe form of an assasin.  
"I am Raven, and I have been given the task of killing you."  
Subaru turned and ran.  
  
Tsukasa squinted into the snowfilled air and thought he could make out the form of someone coming towards him, but he could not be sure. There was very little he found that he could be sure of anymore, so he ignored it.  
"Help! Help!"  
His eyes widened in surprise. Subaru's voice?  
Will she follow me to the ends of the world, this girl??  
He looked up as her form became clearer and he saw that her eyes were wide with fear. Then he saw another person running after her. A fierce and sudden sense of protectiveness welled up within him. How dare someone attack her!  
  
Anger. 


	9. Power Hack

Disclaimer- none of the characters are mine save for Raven. Pweeeze don't take him...  
  
CHAPTER 9- POWER HACK  
  
"Tsukasa!!" Subaru cried when she saw him standing there in the snow ahead of her. She did not stop in time to keep from stumbling into him and her momentum nearly toppled them both into the snow. He tensed slightly, but did not reach to steady her. Even with the threat of the assassin prowling through the snow close behind, Subaru keenly felt the new difference in height between her and Tsukasa and felt a pang of sadness for some reason.  
Tsukasa held her gaze for an instant, concern on his face. "...be careful," was all he said. Then his features grew serious and he looked past her towards the dark assassin not too far away.  
Raven did not know the other man behind Subaru, did not care. All that registered in his mind was that his target had her back to him, an easy opening that his mind could not dismiss. He lunged forwards, swords shining.  
Tsukasa's eyes widened and he jumped back away from Subaru and she looked at him in confusion. She did not feel the blades as they penetrated her torso, but she did see the look of horror on Tsukasa's face. Then she could only see blackness.  
  
Tsukasa froze, his mind coming to a stuttering halt. In front of him, Subaru slowly sunk to the ground and greyed out. Her character skin would remain there until she logged back in but to Tsukasa, who saw the World as a real place and not a game, only registered the fact that one of his closest friends was gone.  
...and this dark man in front of him was the one responsible.  
Raven wiped his blades on his pants and replaced them in their sheaths, not caring in the least about the man standing in front of him. His mission was completed, and that was all. He turned to leave.  
A ripple of energy swung out from behind him and Raven turned, bending his body almost parallel to the ground as the arc passed him by above. Looking at the pale man before him he realized that he would not be let alone. With a resigned sigh he brought his swords back out of his belt and said, "This is something that I really have no want to do."  
Tsukasa let loose two more attacks, one after the other, with a wave of his hand. He was quite proud of this feat that he had learned with time. The arcs were actually waves of anti-data clusters that bent the reality of the World and could hack into a player's information and push them out of the World without actually hurting them.  
All in all, Tsukasa did not enjoy fighting.  
Raven easily avoided the first wave but was off-balance after and could not react in time to dodge the second. He let out a cry as the arc passed through him, his form instantly turned back into the binary that kept him in the World...  
...but then it stopped, and Raven stumbled and glared at Tsukasa in anger. He was still in the World.  
Tsukasa's eyes widened. This assassin was no normal player. "What are you?" Confused and a bit frightened, Tsukasa fled back to the Church of Twilight to work out what had gone wrong.  
Raven stood there in the snow, alone, also wondering. No player he knew of could actually directly twist another player's base code before. He shook his head and began walking back the way he came. 


	10. Antivirus

Disclaimer- none of the characters are mine save for Raven. Pweeeze don't take him...  
  
CHAPTER TEN- ANTIVIRUS  
  
"He said 'What do you call something that can infect the World's rules?'" Mimiru read her message from Tsukasa aloud. "Naaani?? What is he talking about? I hate riddles!!" She fumed.  
Bear thought for a minute then said, "...a virus." Nodding, he leaned back against the tree. "You send it back, Mimiru."  
Ginkhan nodded in agreement and Mimiru sent her reply to Tsukasa. A moment later she made a sound of exasperation. "Arg, why doesn't he just show up and ask these questions?! He just sent me another one!! This one says-"  
" 'What do you call something that can cure a virus?' " A new voice said from behind the tree Bear was leaning against. Bear leaned to the side and looked around its trunk. "Ah, Tsukasa, we were just talking about you!"  
Subaru looked up from where she was standing next to Ginkhan and her grip tightened on her dress. She had been worried about how Tsukasa had taken to watching her killed in front of him.  
Tsukasa looked over at Mimiru with the slightest hint of a smile. "...I have showed up, Mimiru." Mimiru stuttered and looked away, embarassed.  
Ginkhan nodded his head in greeting and said, "The Scarlet Knights have put out orders to keep you off bounty hunters' hit lists, so," he smiled what he hoped was a friendly smile. "You do not need to fear anyone coming after you."  
"I fear nothing."  
"A purge."  
Everyone looked at Subaru in surprise and confusion. "A data purge can clean out a virus," she explained, uncomfortable with everyone's eyes on her.  
Ginkhan nodded. "I was thinking that too, but it seems a drastic option. Anti-virus software would be a better answer."  
"Anti-virus.." Tsukasa mumbled to himself under his breath. A new option opened up to him suddenly and he gasped in shock. Mimiru looked at him curiously.  
"What is it?" she asked.  
"Is it possible to give them AI?" Tsukasa whispered, his face tense. "...can a virus or anti-virus take on the skin of a player??"  
Subaru looked at him, confused. "You mean an NPC?"  
Bear leaned back. "I do not think that it is possible to do that, Tsukasa," he said as he put his hands behind his head. Mimiru threw up her hands, fed up with all the thinking.  
"I'm tired of this! I'm going to go kill something!" she said, and vanished. Bear chuckled. Ginkhan put in another suggestion. "I will log out and talk to the system managers about it," he said with a tone of finality.  
"And I will post on the BBS," Bear added helpfully.  
Subaru nodded and looked to Tsukasa. "Do not worry- we will have a sure answer soon for you, Tsukasa."  
He stared at the ground deep in thought. After a minute, he raised his head. "Right. Send me a message when you learn something." He paused, then added, "...I can't check the BBS or.." he stopped and shook his head. "Goodbye then." With that, he vanished.  
Bear got to his feet and turned to Ginkhan. "Off information hunting, like old times!"  
Ginkhan laughed, then the two logged out, leaving Subaru alone wondering why Tsukasa did not aknoledge her the entire time. 


	11. Echo

Disclaimer- none of the characters are mine, save for Raven. Pweeeze don't take him...  
  
CHAPTER ELEVEN- ECHO  
  
It's true, then. What I have always feared. I'm a hazard. Some accident, some unregistered glitch that took on a life of its own. I'm some kind of... of virus.  
Lightning flashed outside, momentarily illuminating the ruined inside of the Church. Tsukasa sat upon his stone altar silently, staring at nothing and agonizing over this new epiphiny that had hit him. The false gem on his cap was pulsing again, quite proud of itself.  
It took the System three years, but they have finally come up with something to get rid of me. An 'antivirus'. Some kind of replica but... created to negate whatever my being here does to the World.  
Tsukasa's knuckles turned white as he gripped the stone harder and harder. Outside he could hear the rain falling down hard in sheets in accordance to his mood. The face of the assassin shone vividly in his mind. He knew his name, somehow, and it ran through his head.  
Raven.  
The antivirus.  
Tsukas growled and got to his feet, turning around and facing the shattered window. He walked outside, letting the raging storm drown out his thoughts and the stinging rain wash away his self-pity.  
Let him come, he decided. Let this Raven antivirus come and show all his cards! Virus or not, Tsukasa would not go down without pulling out all his stops. Here, on this server, Tsukasa was God!!  
Let him come!!!  
  
"Remote Anti Virus Echo Node," Bear said when he walked up to Subaru. "That is what they are working on, the people on the BBS say."  
Ginkhan nodded. "The System Manager calls it the R.A.V.E.N Project for short."  
"RAVEN?" Subaru asked. Her eyes widened. "I met this RAVEN program!" she exclaimed. "He killed me yesterday!" She waved away Ginkhan's look of surprise.  
"He was disguised as Tsukasa, but then..." she searched for a word. "..he changed. I mean, he was like Tsukasa, but with darker hair and skin." She turned to Bear. "What is he here for?"  
Bear frowned. "I am not sure. Ginkhan?"  
The Knight tapped his chin. "The RAVEN program is a new thing that the Managers are working on. They said that they create an 'echo' of a virus and then use it to counter the infection."  
"A copy?" Subaru whispered. "...a copy of... Tsukasa...?!" Her knees went weak and she sunk to the ground with her hands over her mouth, shocked.  
Bear's eyes widened and Ginkhan's jaw dropped.  
"...Tsukasa is..." 


	12. I Cannot Die

Disclaimer- none of the characters are mine, save for Raven. Pweeeze don't take him...  
  
CHAPTER TWELVE- I CANNOT DIE  
  
"Tsukasa!!"  
Sora stood at the doors to the Cathedral of Twilight, Raven behind him. "Is this how you treat your guests, Tsukasa?! Come, now! Come out and greet us!!"  
From somewhere within the Church came a great rumbling and the two men took a few steps backwards in surprise as the stones around the doors began to crumble. Soon there was nothing left standing but the doors. Sora raised an eyebrow while Raven stepped forward.  
The doors opened, revealing a field of debris and, on the far side, the stone altar. Still intact, with Tsukasa still sitting upon it. Raven turned to Sora. "You are no longer needed," he said simply, and Sora held his hands out defensively. "I was just leaving!" He vanished, and Raven turned back to the altar.  
"...do you know why I am here?" he called out. There was no answer, but it was obvious that Tsukasa was not surprised. Raven made his way forwards towards him. "If you know, then you understand why this must be done." He stopped ten feet away from him and said quietly, "...your being here is causing problems in the System. You know that I am here to fix it."  
Tsukasa looked at Raven with empty eyes. "...Aura?"  
"Fine. Away from you. Any influence from you on her could destroy the balance of the game."Raven unsheathed his swords. "Don't get all mad. Let's get this over with."  
"I cannot die," Tsukasa said with confidence. Raven smiled."Neither can I."  
  
Bear, Subaru, Ginkhan, and Mimiru all materialized in front of the ruined Cathedral ten minutes later, where Raven and Tsukasa were still fighting. They all looked around in surprise, then turned as one towards the loud crash of Raven's impact onto the ground. It left a small crater from the force of the momentum, but the darkhaired assassin got to his feet a moment later and rushed towards Tsukasa again, who was still sitting immobile on his altar watching the attempts to pass his barrier.  
"You cannot defeat me in my own place," he said quietly.  
Mimiru grabbed Bear's arm and pulled him towards where the two were fighting, Subaru and Ginkhan close behind. Tsukasa saw them coming and, for an instant, his attentions shifted away from the fighting. In that instant his guard fell.  
Raven came in hard and fast and struck with the accuracy of the best of assassins and a bit more.  
Tsukasa let out an agonized cry and doubled over, Raven's swords buried deep in his chest. Time seemed to slow to a crawl for him as he realized the nature of those blades.  
"Tsukasa!!!" Subaru and Bear cried out in dispair. Mimiru put her hands over her mouth and muffled a scream.  
Tsukasa looked up at Raven and gritted his teeth through the pain. "A- Another will come af-after m-me...!"  
Raven shook his head.  
"And Another like me will be waiting to purge him from the System."  
And with that, the two of them flickered, like static on a bad TV, and then vanished altogether. 


End file.
